While driving on freeway in the rain, brakes failed for about 1-2 seconds when applied until disc had dried or heated sufficiently. When contacted, the dealer did not have a technical bulletin regarding such failures. This has happened at least 3 times since the car was new. No other symptoms exist.
1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata brakes complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 16 of 16, newest first, as owners wrote them.
When driving in the rain, brakes did not slow car for up to 3 seconds after application of brake pedal (no matter how hard I pushed). Once the brakes start working, they feel normal, but if you don't use them for a few minutes, the brakes will do the same thing again, and again. It seems that the harder it rains, the more pronounced the temporary lack of stopping power, and the longer the delay until the brakes achieve friction.
This report to to document a safety concern about the performance of the brakes in the 1999 miata. Although the miata has excellent braking in dry conditions, it has been noted that when driving in moderate rain in freeway traffic the brakes are ineffective for 2 to 3 seconds until they begin to dry out and function. This occurs with out the presence of standing water, just normal spray from traffic. This condition was also documented in the miata.net web site and it was reported that mazda has been aware of this condition in europe and has issued replacement front disc sheilds as identified here: right side p/n nc8533260a left side p/n nc8533270a nut p/n d06y33042. Local mazda dealership claim to have no notice of this issue or replacement parts. This condition is being experienced by more 1999 owners as documented on the miata.net forum under the topic "brakes in the wet" where this problem was first identified.
After driving in rain, brakes will have no effect until rotor is dry, which could be the difference in an accident happening or not. This is simply by driving in rain, and not going through any puddles.
While driving in wet or snowy conditions there is a repeatable tendency for brakes to not supply adequate braking until repeated pumping of the brakes is done.
My point in writing this letter is my concern over the cars performance on wet roads. Mind you, Im not talking heavy rains or anything close to that. Im merely talking about the type of weather where one may utilize the intermittent wiper. After a period of driving in this type of weather the brakes are lacking. I have exited the highway on off ramps and the brakes are no where to be found. Luckily, I had time to pump the brakes and there was no traffic backup at the end of the ramp (3 times). We have experienced other similar occurrences over the past years.
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